Four years retrospective study of skin adnexal tumors: Histomorphology and special stain study

Background: Skin adnexal tumors (SATs) are uncommon and may cause diagnostic problems. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of SATs with respect to their clinicopathological features over a period of 4 years. Materials and Methods: It was a retrospective, descriptive study. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathological analysis and with special stains as Alcian blue/periodic acid–Schiff stain for confirmation. Results: A total number of cases that were diagnosed as SATs were 18; benign tumors were 17 (94.4%) and one malignant tumor (5.6%). Most tumors were of sweat gland origin (61.1%) followed by hair follicle origin (33.3%) then by sebaceous gland origin (5.6%). The age ranged from 3 to 51 years and male: female ratio was 1.57:1. The head-and-neck region was the most common location (44.4%). Hidradenoma (35.3%) was the most common benign tumor followed by pilomatrixoma (23.5%) and spiradenoma (17.6%) while sebaceous carcinoma was the only malignant tumor detected. Conclusion: The overall incidence of SATs was found to be very low. Benign SATs were more as compared with the malignant tumors. A careful histopathological assessment is essential for accurate diagnosis.